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<blockquote data-quote="Argyle King" data-source="post: 8352124" data-attributes="member: 58416">I mostly agree with this.I know it was a cartoon, but I feel that Thunder the Barbarian is also sword &amp; sorcery (or at least as much as it can be for a children's cartoon); it includes things such as light-saber-knockoffs, various races, and elements of post-apocalyptic sci-fi.Sword &amp; Sorcery is definitely a tone. I think that's why it can be so hard to define sometimes. It's one of those things that is difficult to define, but is easy to feel/not-feel.I think there can be spell casting, but I also think there are styles of magic and amounts of magic which can make achieving the S&amp;S (sword &amp; sorcery) feel difficult. For example, I've heard people describe D&amp;D as sword &amp; sorcery; I'm not saying those people are wrong, but my view is that how contemporary D&amp;D approaches magic (and hit points and a few other things) works at cross-purposes to trying to build the tone of S&amp;S.In my own mind, I think Dark Sun had touches of S&amp;S.Oddly, even though it's generally viewed as a romantic fantasy, I think there are times when Dragonlance dips its toe into S&amp;S territory -with some of Raistlin &amp; Caramon's backstory and some of how elements of combat and the war are described.I'll be surprised if some of those darker tones are still present in newer versions of those settings (or still present in a way which captures the same feel). I say that because my own perception is that it's a bit of a fashion-faux-pas to even imply some of those darker elements in contemporary WoTC products.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Argyle King, post: 8352124, member: 58416"] I mostly agree with this. I know it was a cartoon, but I feel that Thunder the Barbarian is also sword & sorcery (or at least as much as it can be for a children's cartoon); it includes things such as light-saber-knockoffs, various races, and elements of post-apocalyptic sci-fi. Sword & Sorcery is definitely a tone. I think that's why it can be so hard to define sometimes. It's one of those things that is difficult to define, but is easy to feel/not-feel. I think there can be spell casting, but I also think there are styles of magic and amounts of magic which can make achieving the S&S (sword & sorcery) feel difficult. For example, I've heard people describe D&D as sword & sorcery; I'm not saying those people are wrong, but my view is that how contemporary D&D approaches magic (and hit points and a few other things) works at cross-purposes to trying to build the tone of S&S. In my own mind, I think Dark Sun had touches of S&S. Oddly, even though it's generally viewed as a romantic fantasy, I think there are times when Dragonlance dips its toe into S&S territory -with some of Raistlin & Caramon's backstory and some of how elements of combat and the war are described. I'll be surprised if some of those darker tones are still present in newer versions of those settings (or still present in a way which captures the same feel). I say that because my own perception is that it's a bit of a fashion-faux-pas to even imply some of those darker elements in contemporary WoTC products. [/QUOTE]

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